The Best Big Data Books of All Time

This book sheds new light on a selection of big data scenarios from an interdisciplinary perspective. It features legal, sociological and economic approaches to fundamental big data topics such as privacy, data quality and the ECJ's Safe Harbor decision on the one hand, and practical applications such as smart cars, wearables and web tracking on the other. Addressing the interests of researchers and practitioners alike, it provides a comprehensive overview of and introduction to the emerging challenges regarding big data.

All contributions are based on papers submitted in connection with ABIDA (Assessing Big Data), an interdisciplinary research project exploring the societal aspects of big data and funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.This volume was produced as a part of the ABIDA project (Assessing Big Data, 01IS15016A-F). ABIDA is a four-year collaborative project funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. However the views and opinions expressed in this book reflect only the authors' point of view and not necessarily those of all members of the ABIDA project or the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. This work was published by Saint Philip Street Press pursuant to a Creative Commons license permitting commercial use. All rights not granted by the work's license are retained by the author or authors.

An unflinching look at the aspiring city-builders of our smart, mobile, connected future. We live in a world defined by urbanization and digital ubiquity, where mobile broadband connections outnumber fixed ones, machines dominate a new "internet of things," and more people live in cities than in the countryside. In Smart Cities, urbanist and technology expert Anthony Townsend takes a broad historical look at the forces that have shaped the planning and design of cities and information technologies from the rise of the great industrial cities of the nineteenth century to the present.

A century ago, the telegraph and the mechanical tabulator were used to tame cities of millions. Today, cellular networks and cloud computing tie together the complex choreography of mega-regions of tens of millions of people. In response, cities worldwide are deploying technology to address both the timeless challenges of government and the mounting problems posed by human settlements of previously unimaginable size and complexity. In Chicago, GPS sensors on snow plows feed a real-time "plow tracker" map that everyone can access. In Zaragoza, Spain, a "citizen card" can get you on the free city-wide Wi-Fi network, unlock a bike share, check a book out of the library, and pay for your bus ride home. In New York, a guerrilla group of citizen-scientists installed sensors in local sewers to alert you when stormwater runoff overwhelms the system, dumping waste into local waterways. As technology barons, entrepreneurs, mayors, and an emerging vanguard of civic hackers are trying to shape this new frontier, Smart Cities considers the motivations, aspirations, and shortcomings of them all while offering a new civics to guide our efforts as we build the future together, one click at a time.

Technological advancements in computing have changed how data is leveraged by businesses to develop, grow, and innovate. In recent years, leading analytical companies have begun to realize the value in their vast holdings of customer data and have found ways to leverage this untapped potential. Now, more firms are following suit and looking to monetize Big Data for big profits. Such changes will have implications for both businesses and consumers in the coming years. In From Big Data to Big Profits, Russell Walker investigates the use of Big Data to stimulate innovations in operational effectiveness and business growth.

Walker examines the nature of Big Data and how businesses can use it to create new monetization opportunities. Using case studies of Apple, Netflix, Google, LinkedIn, Zillow, Amazon, and other leaders in the use of Big Data, Walker explores how digital platforms such as mobile apps and social networks are changing the nature of customer interactions and the way Big Data is created and used by companies. Such changes, as Walker points out, will require careful consideration of legal and unspoken business practices as they affect consumer privacy. Companies looking to develop a Big Data strategy will find great value in the SIGMA framework, which he has developed to assess companies for Big Data readiness and provide direction on the steps necessary to get the most from Big Data. Rigorous and meticulous, From Big Data to Big Profits is a valuable resource for students, researchers, and professionals with an interest in Big Data, digital platforms, and analytics.